MG Sports Cars

I'm a little late in getting this posted, but I have some interesting pictures to go with it now so I'll try to include some background without getting too detailed about it. The bottom line is that Dan (my brother, not the other Dan) blew up my 215!

OK, well it wasn't entirely his fault and a long and winding tale it is so I'd better get started. It all really begins several years back one day at Edgewater dragstrip on British car Day when, with few participants I made back-to back runs over and over and over again, just seeing what the car would do and trying to learn how to launch it to get good dragstrip times. I had let myself get sucked into the idea that I had to have 1/4 mile times or horsepower numbers or some such to justify the legitimacy of my blower engine when I should have just been enjoying driving it the way I wanted to, and then none of this would have ever happened. I know a few others who have shared this experience. But then y'all would have missed out on a story. So anyway on the last run the engine went off song and I was pretty sure I'd blown a head gasket. This was confirmed as I limped the car home, stopping several times to let off steam and take on water.

On teardown nothing much was amiss other than the gasket and I had become convinced that copper head gaskets could cure the ill, so procuring a set and with other steps to ensure good clamping force I installed those and torqued them down very tightly, buttoned it up and was back on the road again. Except that minute amounts of coolant were now disappearing for no good reason. Eventually I determined that the copper head gaskets were not doing a perfect job of keeping combustion pressure out of the water jacket, but by that time I had decided to build a 340 so I budgeted for a stockpile of antifreeze to keep temperatures in check, and planned to change the head gaskets when the engine came out for the upgrade. In the meantime Dan bought a TR7 and we began talking about eventually putting that engine in his car after my upgrade, which ought to make a pretty quick TR7.

Dan has another LBC, a '66 TR4A-IRS that he's owned almost as long as I've had my roadster. It's always been very close to original although we did convert it to an alternator after he bought a radio for it and we botched the negative ground conversion and the wiring burned up when I was driving it. I would have my revenge! A couple years ago he bought a GM EFI intake and we started down the path to a MegaSquirt conversion. I'm pleased to report that the car now starts and runs with the EFI with more tuning needed, but on that infamous Monday afternoon, having bitten off more than we could chew, gave up and started looking for ways to get him back home. The obvious choice was the MG. But the MG had gotten gradually worse and could now be depended on to be running warm after 40 minutes and Dan lived 3 hours away. Ever the optimist however I sent him away in it with instructions and crossed fingers. What I got back was this:







Isn't it amazing what a blower motor does when you melt a piston? Dan said it just went boom. Yeah, I BET it went boom, I bet it sounded like a grenade went off! You could stick your fist in that hole! Luckily the blower is OK and the throttle body seems fine so the plan now is to set that on Harry Johnston's ultra low compression 215 Olds that I've always kept as an emergency spare and see how that combo runs. I expect it'll make almost as much power but gas mileage will suck and off idle response will be OK but not sterling. I have run that motor over the years with a 4bbl carb and then a Jetfire turbo and it's a decent engine for a backup. In fact I'm really happy to have it sitting there, and could be up and running again in just a few weeks.

Meanwhile work continues on the 340, and I've discovered multi-layer-steel head gaskets. From all reports they should handle the pressure from the blower and seal everything else up well also. Modern gaskets are a wonderful thing.

As for Dan? Well his intentions were good, he came back to work on the engine swap but we mostly worked on his TR instead and now it rests comfortably in his garage and I have more space. He knows how it feels to blow up his brother's favorite toy, as I did many years ago, and if circumstances permit he'll help fix it. But in reality it's up to me to make it run again. Luckily I can do that without too much fuss and bother. But it occurs to me that this is a good example of why you don't want to raw dog it when someone lets you drive their car, and I'm not saying Dan was doing that.(though I had forgotten to tell him to watch the EGT) Like Dan, you don't know what the car will and won't take. You don't know the warning signs that the owner is intimately familiar with to the point that he won't even remember to tell you about them. And like Dan you could find yourself in a situation where you are somewhat powerless to make amends. It's an experience you don't soon forget, even if the owner does. Been there, done that, and NOBODY makes a T-shirt for it.

Jim

Let us bow our heads, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Olds to bits! Sorry Jim, that even looks expensive, but now you have even more reason to figure out the 340 upgrade and have an even more powerful beast.

No, it was on BOOM!

"Re: their I was stories?
Posted by: Dan B
Date: August 19, 2008 09:13AM

There I was....stranded in Florence, Ky. TR4A fuel injection conversion project 95% complete (actually mechanically 100%) including custom Blackwood Labs conversion parts. We were struggling with getting it to actually run, having worked an intense weekend on the conversion. I already had two days vacation invested, and need to get back to WV to work today, so Jim says, "Take the B, I think she'll make the trip. She overheats a little, but you can stop and let it cool off and add antifreeze. It'll probably make it." Famous last words!
So I took the B, and what a trip! Before I got to the interstate I already had two people hollering at me, "What kind of car is that?" On the highway, a big diesel pickup pulled up beside me and motioned for me to get on it, so I punched a little to make some noise. He grinned from ear to ear.
I exited the freeway to the AA highway, and several traffic lights and hills, keeping an eye on the temperature. I stopped at a little covered bridge off the road to let it cool, and added coolant, the proceeded to the next town, Maysville, where I stopped at Walmart to get more coolant, and a cold vitamin water. I decided to go ahead and top off the coolant, and added a half gallon. Several people including the checkout guy at Walmart made comments about the car. One guy asked, "Is that a Porche?"
She ran cool to the next stop at Vanceburg, where I got gas, an ice cream cone, and added coolant. A guy getting milk stood there admiring the engine, and asked me about old hot rods. He has a 40 Ford.
Then the hills. Babying the car along, I watched the guage go up and down, depending on if I was ascending or descending a hill. It was doing just what Jim told me it would. Finally, I made it to the interstate, I-64 at Grayson, Ky. I thought, now I'm home free. Not to be
As the guage climbed, I looked for a good shady place to pull off. I found a spot, stopped the car, popped the hood and called Jim to report a miss she had developed. We discussed the coolant, checked the oil, etc. When it was cool enough, I added more coolant, hung up the phone and started out.
As a gap came in traffic, I hit the gas (starting out in 2nd on Jim's transmission, going downhill) pulled on the road and BOOM!

There I was....stranded in Greenup, Kentucky........"

On LY boom....not KA boom....


wish I could type bettttterrrr

At any rate, I WAS driving, so I do get the credit for blowing that thing up I guess. Payback for when my electrics went with you driving I suppose. I feel really bad about it. Now you have less time for Roadmaster too.

I got the headers unbolted today, it looks like they might fit the 340 without any modification. That would be good. I want to pull the heads before yanking the engine but first I have to figure out a way to get the valve covers off since they're glued on with Right Stuff sealant. Hey Carl! I'm thinking of you! I'll post a shot of the holey piston when I find it.

Dan, I'm just glad (very Very glad) that you didn't keep running it after the BOOM. I imagine that A/F mixture being pumped into the crankcase and lit off would soon have made a mighty blaze of the whole works.

Jim